How TV reacted to JFK's assassination

In this photo, taken just after President John F. Kennedy was hit by bullets, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy stands up in the presidential car to lift up the body of her husband.

In this photo, taken just after President John F. Kennedy was hit by bullets, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy stands up in the presidential car to lift up the body of her husband. (Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

A photo of a May 1977 television broadcast of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, in the presidential limousine in Dallas' Dealey Plaza moments after the president was shot dead on Nov. 22, 1963.

A photo of a May 1977 television broadcast of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, in the presidential limousine in Dallas' Dealey Plaza moments after the president was shot dead on Nov. 22, 1963. (Ernst Haas / Getty Images)

The death of President John F. Kennedy was the first national tragedy the television medium had to make sense of, to put into order and carry to the people. Here's a look at how TV reacted to JFK's assassination on Nov. 22, 1963.